Robert Dean (Will Smith) is a labor lawyer who is unknowingly in possession of evidence related to a serious politically motivated crime. Government agents eager to hide their guilt believe that Dean is on to them, and proceed to turn his life upside-down, ruin his reputation, and frame him for various incidents, thanks to the latest in high-tech government surveillance techniques. In an attempt to clear his name and reclaim his life, Dean teams up with the reclusive Brill (Gene Hackman), a former federal employee who has as much high-tech equipment and expertise as the government itself. Hackman's role is an extension of Harry Caul, the character he portrayed in Francis Ford Coppola's brilliant 1974 film, THE CONVERSATION. Smith scores as a man who is desperate to reclaim his identity and prove his innocence. This intense technological thrill-ride from director Tony Scott questions how much access the government should have to the communications of private citizens, and leaves the viewer with the unsettling feeling that Big Brother is definitely watching. Watch for the uncredited appearances of Jason Robards, Seth Green, Tom Sizemore, and Philip Baker Hall.
cast
Will Smith as Robert Clayton Dean
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Thomas Reynolds: [talking to Brill] So tell me what was on that tape.
Robert Clayton Dean: [watching from afar] Your ugly-ass face, that's what.
Director Tony Scott presents what sometimes seems like a documentary on electronic surveillance in ENEMY OF THE STATE. His vehicle is the story of Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), a Washington D.C. attorney who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a conspiracy when a computer disk finds its way into his shopping bags. On the disk is evidence that a National Security Agency boss named Reynolds (Jon Voight) engineered the murder of a U.S. congressman (an uncredited Jason Robards) who would have killed legislation making it easier for the NSA to spy on citizens. Piece by piece Dean's identity is destroyed and accusations are trumped up against him, until the only chance he has left is a secretive former government operative known only as Brill (Gene Hackman).
